Flames of Night
by Jonathan Aguiar
Summary: A new fledgling arrives at school with a strange mark. He becomes fast friends with the group, but there is a powerful enemy taking aim on him, Zoey, and all of the House of Night.
1. Chapter 1

I was the new kid in school. I was marked a year ago, but just started at the House of Night because I had to learn to control my abnormal powers first.

I had a roommate named Manual. He wasn't a bad guy, but I didn't think he'd hang out with his clique. This guy was very muscular, and obviously a jock. I was more into art and music.

I had just gotten lunch and was relieved not to see blood on the menu. I went looking for a place to sit. I couldn't decide but then these two girls grabbed me by the arm and brought me to their table.

There was a guy four girls there, including the two that kidnapped me.

"Hey" said one of them. She had slightly dark skin, most likely of Native American descent. She had a mark that danced down her cheek and onto her shoulder. All of a sudden I thought I knew why those two brought me here.

"So whats with your arm?" The blond girl smiled at me.

"Erin!" Said a girl at the table with an okie accent. "Don't be so rude!" She looked toward and smiled. "Sorry about her. I'm Stevie Rae." She held out a hand to shake.

"I'm josh." I shook her hand. Her skin was surprisingly soft.

Then I noticed the Native American girl with the fancy mark looking at mine. "It goes down my arm and onto my fingers."

She jumped a little. She was surprised by what I said, I guess. "I, I'm Zoey. I got mine when I had to host a circle."

"Mine spread out on my forehead a little when I got it. I also gained the ability to manipulate fire, but only a little, and I couldn't control it so they had me taken to someone to help me with it. I was there for a year."

"So that's how you got your mark like that?" The girl that helped the blond girl carry me here asked.

"Not exactly" I said. I didn't know why but I felt comfortable around them. "Up until two weeks ago I couldn't control it. Then there was a fire at the neighbor's house. I had befriended their teenage daughter so I ran in to save her. While in there my mark changed and I was completely able to control the fire with my right arm."

"So you saved her then." The boy I noticed that Erin called Damian said. "That's good."

"I didn't save her." I frowned. "She inhaled too much smoke and died on the way to the hospital."

"Wow. I'm so sorry." Stevie Rae's eyes showed concern.

"Thanks." I forced myself to suppress the memory.

"So what do you do for fun?" Stevie Rae asked.

"Well I like to draw, and I have a guitar." I said in between bites of the Chow Mein.

"That's cool." Zoey said. "You should try to start a band."

"I might." The idea made me smile.

The bell rang and we had to get to class. Stevie Raw showed me to my French class. It wasn't as boring as I thought it would be. I was thankful for that. As my last class I had Equestrian with Zoey. I was assigned to a horse named Cobalt. He was a brown and white paint horse. We got along really well. That made me happy.

I was on my way to dinner when Stevie Rae pulled me aside in the court yard. She got us out of ear range of the other students there and stopped. "I need to talk to you." Her back was turned to me.

"Whats up?"

"That girl you tried to save..."

"What about her?"

She turned to face me. She was crying a little. "I just wanted to thank you for trying to save her. She was my cousin."

"Wow." I walked a little closer to her. "I didn't know she was your cousin." The look in her eyes at lunch made more sense now.

She stepped a little closer and her hand took mine. "I heard a vampyre fledgling tried to save her, but I didn't think I would meet him."

"I'm sorry I couldn't save her." I looked at her hand. "I should have been faster."

Her hand traveled up my arm; her fingers slightly tracing my mark. "You're a hero Josh. Even the humans are praising you."

"I'm no hero." My voice was whisper. "I'm just as flawed as everyone else."

Then, before I knew what was happening, she kissed me. Her lips were gently pressed against mine. Her hands on my arms. Her fingers moving playfully. My hands were on her elbows; gripping gently. I began to smile and her lips pressed slightly harder against mine, causing my grip on her elbows to tighten. She smiled and pulled away.

"I don't know what to say." She looked away. "I get a funny feeling when I'm around you, but I don't want you to think I'm like a nasty ho or something."

I couldn't help but laugh a little. "I don't think that. Don't worry.

"Really?" She looked up at me with hopeful eyes.

"Really." I laughed.

We started to walk toward the dining hall, her arm close to mine. It was my third day here and I never felt more welcome at a school.

We got our dinners and sat at the table. Dinner was Seafood Alfredo. It was real lobster too. So good! We spent dinner talking about what movies were in theaters. Shaunee (finally found out her name) and Erin really wanted to see the new Harry Potter movie. Damian and Zoey wanted to see transformers. Stevie Rae couldn't decide so I had to vote. Looked like we were going to go see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Lol, I'm such a nerd.

So we went to see the movie. It was really good, but I was kind of distracted. Stevie Rae sat next to me and kept sneaking looks, causing me to look back. Then she would blush, and I would smile and return my attention to the movie.

About three days later Erin had gotten a hold of my sketch book. The group really liked the pictures but I felt awkward when the saw the flower. The stem was black, the thorns were white, and the rose petals were bright purples and reds. However, it seemed only Stevie Rae notice the small SJ hidden in one of the petals. It made her giggle.

Later that night we decided to hang out in the court yard. I brought a deck of cards and we decided to play poker.

"How about..." grinned Shaunee.

"Strip poker." Erin smiled maliciously.

Stevie Rae looked at me and turned bright red, blushing.

"Sounds interesting." Zoey laughed. "But not a good idea to play that in the middle of the courtyard.

I won.

About three weeks later we were hanging out in the courtyard again (it was becoming an after dinner ritual) when something stepped out from the shadows. Blind white eyes seemed to be looking at us. She had red hair and wore a white cloak.

"Who are you?" Zoey stood up. Her voice rang with an authority that made me smile.

"I am Hera." Her voice was eerie and dry.

"Why are you here?"

"To begin the end my dear." She pulled out a knife and plunged at Zoey.

Before I could think, my instinct came in. I was ready to pounce on the intruder, my instinct in complete control. My adrenaline was pumped and it felt like everything was moving a lot slower around me.

That's when I saw it. Stevie Rae had moved in between Hera and Zoey. Fuck no. I wasn't going to let that bitch hurt her. My Mark started to hurt, like burning pain, and it seemed as if time had almost stopped. I ran and placed myself between Stevie Rae and Hera just in time to take the blade for her. I felt fire burst from my right arm and blacked out.

I woke up a day later in the House's infirmary. Stevie Rae was there and ran to get the nurse when I woke up, but only after kissing my forehead.

The nurse told me I would be okay and that the blade missed my vital organs, but just barely. Neferet, the high priestess(and principal) came in soon after to thank me and told be that if I hadn't been there that our little group of friends would most likely be dead right now.

After she left I got dressed and headed over to the dorm my friends tend to hang out in. Stevie Rae and I walked in and we all hung out. Then the room was empty. Just Stevie Rae and I.

"What happened to that Hera lady?" I turned on the couch to face Stevie Rae.

"Why does it matter?" She was already facing me.

"It matters to me."

"You blasted her with fire. She ran off and got away, but her cloak was on fire. I don't know if she's alive or not."

"Okay. Thank you for telling me." I got out my sketch book and started to draw an eye.

She stopped me and took my hand, leading me to a small room that seemed like it was a closet from the outside.

"What are we doing here?" I sat on a chair.

She sat on the floor. "I want you to draw me."


	2. Chapter 2

--Sorry about the long wait for Chapter 2. Trying to improve on my writing skill. Any advice would be greatly appreciated."--

I woke up the next day in the room from last night. Shit, we fell asleep! She was in my arms. Smiling and mumbling in her sleep. I checked my watch. Classes started in two hours. I had to wake her up and get going.

I was sure to be gentle about waking her. "Wake up Stevie."

She became very alert when she saw our surroundings. "We're still in here? Oh my goodness! What time is it? Did you call me Stevie?"

I smiled. "We fell asleep. Class starts in about two hours. Yes, I called you Stevie."

"Oh." She smiled as she got hold of herself. "Did the drawing come out good?"

I remembered drawing her. She took a relaxed pose, holding herself up by her elbows, and smiled the entire time. It was no comparison to her though. It wasn't possible to capture the softness of her skin or the way her eyes sparkled when she smiled at me like that. "It came out as good as I could get it."

When I showed it she kissed my cheek. "Oh Josh. I love it." She brought her lips to my ear, making it seem like she was going to say something provocative. "We need to get ready for class."

I laughed. "Yeah, you're right." We got up and snuck into the main room.

"Oh boy, what were you guys doing in there?" Great. Erin saw us come out of the room. She had a grin on her face. No doubt hoping for good gossip to share with Shaunee.

"Shhhh" said Stevie Rae to Erin as she rushed me out the door. I heard her say "Erin, shut up for a minute!"

I was halfway to my dorm when someone stepped from one of the halls. A majestic face with eyes of authority. Neferet. Shit!

"Joshua it is after hours." Her voice was very calm yet chilling. "What are you doing out here this late?"

"I'm really sorry Ma'am." I was slightly nervous. "I was hanging out with Stevie Rae and we fell asleep. We just woke up and I'm heading back to my dorm."

"Don't make a habit of this." Neferet smiled. "I understand you and Ms. Johnson are close, but people like to talk, so try to make sure you get to your dorm on time."

"Thank you High Priestess."

"Now be on your way."

"May I ask one thing?"

"Yes, of course." Her eyes met mine and I got a feeling I shouldn't ask. I ignored it.

"Who was Hera?"

Her face turned grim. "Be on your way."

I knew at that point something big was going on. Bigger than me. Maybe even bigger than Zoey. Whatever it was, the look on Neferet's face could only mean one thing. Trouble.

I went back to my dorm, took a shower and got dressed. I was going to make this day as normal as I could. I could talk to Zoey in class. And we really needed to talk.

That thing, the way she smelled like a dead flower, it wasn't right. I didn't realize what she smelled like until last week. I smelled a lillac and it made me realize that.

"Josh?" My roommate woke up. "You're up already? I'm usually the on that wakes you up."

I laughed. "Yeah. Couldn't sleep."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." I felt bad lying to him. He really was a nice guy.

"Well okay." He sat up. "I'm gonna go get ready."

Breakfast went normally, as did lunch.

Finally it was time for equestrian class. I told Zoey about what Neferet had said. Then Zoey told me why she doesn't trust Neferet either. Neferet was into some seriously dark magic. That shit could be seriously scary. We decided we would wait and see what happened next.

Now it was dinner time. I was so hungry I could eat a horse. Well, not literally. It would be gross, and my sister would kill me.

Dinner was grilled shrimp. Yum. Damien was all smiles. "In a good mood?" I asked.

He just sighed.

"He's excited about Jack." Stevie Rae said as she sat next to me.

"Jack?" I didn't know this person.

"Oh crap" Erin said. "We never told you."

Shaunee talked through a mouth of food. "He ish Damien'sh boyfshriend." It wasn't hard to make out what she said.

"Why isn't he around?" I said before putting a delicious shrimp covered in cocktail sauce in my mouth.

Damien swallowed before speaking. "He's in Japan on a student exchange program with another House of Night. He's coming back in a few weeks."

"That's cool" I said. "I wish I had a girlfriend here." I winked at Stevie.

She elbowed me but then rubbed her leg against mine under the table. She was fond of sending mixxed signals.

The sides of rice and grilled veggies were really good. The food at this school really was amazing.

So another week went by without anything major happening. Just Shaunee and Erin making a list of who the hottest guys in school are. When Stevie found out my name was on it she started to make a point to hold my hand in front of them. It was kind of cute.

And then came tonight. The night of my first official Dark Daughters and Sons ritual. I was really nervous, but excited at the same time

I was dressed in all black as was the others from our lunch table. I couldn't help but to notice that Stevie's dress kind of hugged her ass. I got the feeling she did that on purpose for me.

Zoey began the ritual and lit the four outer candles. As she lit the spirit candle, something happened. The purple turned to black and Zoey started to scream and keeled over in pain.

The door blew open in a violent gust of cold wind and black smoke flew in. I ran over to Zoey and the black smoke was spinning above us.

"Licentia!" Zoey screamed. "Licentia iam!" The smoke stopped spinning. "Vos es non exspectata hic, vos nequam morbus! EGO to order vos! Licentia!" Her eyes opened. They were glowing purple light.

A disturbing screech came from the smoke, and I could hear it's voice in my head. Terminus est coming! Pupa,vestri fatum est super vos! Vos operor non to order mihi! EGO sum vestri excellens! EGO sum vestri messor!"

"Fuck you" I heard myself say. I felt my body surge with heat, like I was about to explode. Then I felt it. Stevie's arms surrounded me from behind.

I heard her voice. "No Josh! Its okay! Its gone!"

My body returned to normal. The smoke was gone and Zoey was unconscious on the floor. "What happened?" I sat on the floor.

Stevie sat next to me. "Z said something funny and yelled. Then the cloud started flashing bright purple and ran away." She looked over at Erin, Shaunee, Damien, and Zoey. "Y'all okay?"

Damien called for Erik. "Carry her to the infirmary. We'll be there soon. Stevie Rae, Z is unconcious."

Erik picked her up. "I'll take her there right away." He left with her and a few of his friends.

Once we were alone in the rec hall I looked around at the others. All their faces said the same thing as mine. Something is up. And it's big trouble.


End file.
